How many Mbuna in a 65g?

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GS1981

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jun 26, 2012
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England
Hi how many Mbuna can i put in my 65g? (44x25x17) also can i use large beach pebbles off the beach to save money?

I was going to keep a all male peacock tank but the prices are to high with delivery etc, so done a U-Turn and i'm going to keep just Mbuna.
 
can i stretch to 20?

5 x labs (my fave)
2 x Red Hongis
2 x Red Zebra
2 x Socolfi
2 x Perlmutt
7 more?

can i keep any species solo to get more types?
 
Should be doing 2-3 species at most in that size imo. more individuals of each species, like suggested. That allows you to do 3-4 females per male. If you have two of a species and they are both male, stronger male most likely kill other one. If you have 1m 1f, f will get harassed nonstop. Mbuna are better kept in groups of their own species.
 
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are they easy to sex from lfs's? i can see myself asking for say 4 fish, wanting 3 females to a male and getting 3 males
 
GS1981 said:
are they easy to sex from lfs's? i can see myself asking for say 4 fish, wanting 3 females to a male and getting 3 males
Click to expand...

Depending on size, some species may be sexable from the store. Others that have males and females that look the same will have to be vented. Buying double what you need works, just return the extra males as the show themselves.
 
If yellow labs are your fave, you might want to consider a species only tank. That would also make this set up much easier to stock with regards to m/f ratio, and/or overly aggro fish. With high quality fish it could make for a very nice display tank.
 
Mbuna can be difficult to sex unless they are a dimorphic species, or you really know what you are looking for. Yellow labs are difficult, but luckily are also pretty relaxed so if you don't have the best ratio it's better than with some mbuna.
Perlmutts, I kept a few of in a mixed mbuna setup many years ago, and they became my favorite fish in the tank. Good looking, stay smaller, and never started any problems.
I'd say a tank of just a bunch of yellow labs and perlmutts would be great looking, and would have a good chance of success even if you don't get the perfect ratio.
One of the perlmutts
perl.JPG
 
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